Facts and Trivia

Dear Old Dad

My Father, Brice Mack worked for Walt Disney in the 30's, 40's and early 50's. He painted backgrounds for Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Lady And The Tramp and many shorts including the Academy Award winning "Lend a Paw". He was also a writer on Sleeping Beauty and many shorts. After Disney, he went on to direct and produce films and TV commercials. Brice Mack IMDB pageBrice Mack Wikipedia pageMy Father was also also a cartoonist and illustrator for magazines. This is a cover he did for True Magazine about a new activity known as skin diving, which he had helped to pioneer. The painting is also a self portrait, as he photographed himself for reference. My Dad found a bar with a big window into a swimming pool. He set up the shot and got the bartender to click the shutter when he was in position under the water. It was winter on the east coast and he had to break through ice to get into the freezing water. The bartender thought he was crazy. More than a great dad, my Father mentored me in drawing, painting, animation, photography and filmmaking.

My Dad was called Musclebrain by his friends and co-workers, because of his athletic prowess, formidable intellect and artistic talent.

My Mom Tinkerbell

My Mother was head of ink and paint at Disney Studios for many years. She was also the original model for Tinkerbell. In this publicity photo my Mom poses for Roy Williams at Disney Studios in the early 50's.

My parents met while working for Disney. They were friends with many luminary artists of the time. I often received impromptu art tutoring from the likes of Marty Murphy, Virgil Partch, Dick Kinney and Dick Shaw.

I'm proud to be the son of Musclebrain and Tinkerbell.

Child Actor

My father cast me in a commercial he was directing when I was 3 months old. I appeared in over 70 TV commercials and films by the age of 14. My acting wages paid for my Art Center education.

Kool Aid Commercial with The Monkees

There's a close up of me eleven seconds into this Kool Aid commercial with The Monkees. I think this was around 1969.

The Monkee Mobile

I love cars and drag racing and the Monkee mobile has always been a favorite. It was built by Dean Jeffries Automotive, which was right down the street from where I lived. I would freak out every time we drove by it. I finally got my mom to stop and take this picture of me with it.I'm guessing this is around 1967.

The Mack Mobile

When I built my '68 GTO, it was inspired by the Monkee mobile, but the supercharger sticking out of the hood of the Mack mobile is real.

My brother took me to the drag races when I was a kid and I was so impressed that I started drawing dragsters and funny cars relentlessly. I was particularly fascinated by the shapes and forms of the supercharged V8 engine. Variations on these forms appear frequently in my art.

The Fringe

My wife and I had a psychedelic art band called The Fringe in the '80s and early 90's. We played in clubs in Los Angeles and Wilmington, North Carolina and recorded a couple of albums of original music.

This early band portrait was taken in our West LA kitchen in 1984. We painted every inch of the place; walls, ceiling, floor, even the appliances. When we played gigs, we set up TVs that played our psychedelic video art while we performed our psychedelic music. Left to right - Kevin Mack, Snow Mack, Richard Mattsson, Alan Walker. Photo by Alan Walker

The Tower

We helped our roommate Patrick Bucklew build this big art tower out of scavenged wood and junkin our backyard in West LA. Patrick is an amazing artist and we've shared many adventures. In 2011 we performed improv/music/poetry together at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC. It was the first time in 30 years.

"What Dreams May Come"

I used a rule based system to grow this tree for the film "What Dreams May Come". The background was painted by my wife Snow Mack. In 1999 I won an Academy Award for the Visual Effects. When I accepted the award I said "Love is groovy, be positive." to a billion people. That was a truly transcendent moment. I completely dissolved.

"Fight Club"

In addition to the brain fly through opening title sequence, I supervised the plane crash sequence for David Fincher's "Fight Club". I'm the passenger hanging on for dear life at the end of the sequence. The seat was rigged with hydraulics and shook quite violently. I was told it injured a stunt man during testing. They also shot debris at me out of air canons. One piece broke my glasses. We shot eleven takes. I was sore for a week. Production paid for new glasses.